Meaning in the Text: Reader-response Theory of Criticism

The central issue in nearly all critical approaches is focused on the problem of meaning; each critical theory places the meaning of a text in a certain ground and tries to reach at truth with reference to the meaning. Theories that concern themselves with the external facts such as historical and biographical information, social context, philosophical and literary trends influential during the time of text’s production search for meaning and truth outside the text, thus do not pay much attention to the textual context. They argue that poetry – literature- is an imitation of real life, therefore, meaning of a text is historically and socially defined. Theories, like Formalism, New-criticism, Structuralism, on the other hand, attack the former theories for their lack of textual, formal and literary qualities claiming that theories of these kinds bring subjective view, therefore, cannot be counted as a scientific and objective interpretation. Reader response criticism deals with author’s attitude towards the reader, kinds of reader, the role of different readers in the determination of meaning, the relation of reading conventions to textual criticism, and status of a literary text. Meaning in the text is a result of interaction between reader, text and author